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welfare friendly veal
Eastbrook has also pioneered an organic veal system which means that veal calves are not slaughtered until they are about six months old. During this time they enjoy milk from nurse cows. The calves are fed a full diet and graze on organic meadows in the summer. Winter housing is in a unique 'state of the art' building. The result is a delicious rosé pink veal with a delicious taste that can be eaten with a light heart.
Background to Eastbrook Veal
The UK dairy industry produces an excess of calves that can be reared for beef. Around half of the national dairy herd is bred solely to produce replacement dairy heifers; their male counterparts are not considered suitable for quality beef production.
After a decade-long ban on British beef exports, the trade in live calves to the continent, which eats far more veal per head than the UK, has resumed. On the continent UK banned techniques are still the norm and this, along with the long and arduous journey, causes great public concern. Click on www.ciwf.co.uk for details on how you can help to reverse this.
There are a number of possible solutions, one would be to ban imported beef and veal, thus creating a larger domestic market. This would, however, contravene the European and World Trade Organisation agreements.
A second solution would be to allow farmers access to technologies that would let them choose the sex of their calves. Unwanted dairy males would then never be born.
A third option is to encourage the production and consumption of high welfare veal. At the Government sponsored Rosemaund Research Centre, calves are loose housed on straw but still have a restricted diet. This ensures the flesh remains white. We believe a better solution is the one being developed by Eastbrook Farm.
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